In Atlanta, Georgia's news earlier this month, a story was posted about how a restaurant owner put up a sign that reads "Obama's plan for healthcare: N*&%*r rig it." When asked why he put up the sign, the restaurant owner replied "I've been putting up signs for 22 years and I've put up all kinds of political signs." Then the news reporter asked him why he used the N word, and he replied that he has "used the word for most of his life and that there are different ways to put your opinion up and that was the words that he chose." Many would never think to see such a sign in the United States but the sign is real. Also, in the article the man declares that he is not racist and he was only exercising his First Amendment right.
In another article, the same restaurant owner is interviewed and says that many see the "n" word as a racial slur, but he feels the word is only labeled racist when a white person uses it. Also, he goes on to say that white people refer to themselves as "crackers" but they are not labeled as racists. His daughter goes on to comment " We're not at all racist [...] we have black people come here all the time." The restaurant owner also goes on to say that he joined the NAACP a few years ago, and has pictures of Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Obama hanging on the walls in his restaurant.
Well, is the restaurant owner racist towards Obama since he used the "N" word in his sign or he just using the word because it best fits what he is trying to say about Obama's health care plan.
3 comments:
This is a tricky question. It seems racist to me. When he's confronted with his supposed racism, he tries to support his beliefs by saying he has a picture of Jesse Jackson in his restaurant. And yet Jesse Jackson was a big proponent for outlawing the controversial n-word. In the link, his restaurant also has a Ku Klux Klan mannequin. The more I think about it, there is no way this isn't racist. Why would the n-word fit his sign better than calling Obama a dummy, or any word that isn't offensive?
I would say that the man using the N word is being racist and there is no excuse for that. I believe that there are plenty of other words that he could have used and had the same effect on the readers of the sign. The owner saying that he isn't racist because black patrons in his bar, or pictures of Notable black Americans the walls is stupid. I believe that instead of sitting here and arguing about what makes us different: Race, Sex, Social Status, we are at a point in our history as a nation where we need to see what brings us together- we are American citizens. While some may support the healthcare bill and others may not support the bill, I believe that you should base your support on what you think is best for the United States of America.
I agree with what both of you guys said, he definitely could have used a different choice of words in his sign and with him deciding to use the N-word he did indeed cross the racial line. At this point, I can not call this guy a racist or non-racist because there is not a real clear cut definition for racism. Even if this guy declared himself as being racist, what really can the public do about? We live in the United States, people are allowed to think the way they want to think.
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